How Ireland helped shape the Prime Minister of Canada

Politicians are known for bouncing between numerous events on a weekly or even daily basis. After all, it is part of the job to connect with communities, maximise visibility and strengthen relationships. But for Mark Carney, his appearance at a St Patrick's Day event this year was not just another stop on a prime minister’s busy schedule. Attending a reception at the Irish ambassador’s residence in Ottawa, where he was the guest of honour, was more than a routine appearance. It revealed a personal side of the prime minister that left the room silent. "This was about a man finding his roots and everybody in the room coming to that realisation at the same time", said POLITICO’s Nick Taylor-Vaisey, who was in attendance. The Canadian Prime Minister had been speaking to guests about his Irish heritage and how it helped him stay grounded when he was governor of the Bank of England between 2013 and 2020, one of the most prestigious and influential economic positions in the world. In his office, he displayed a parish map of the small village of Aughagower in Co Mayo to remind him of where he came from. However, when Mr Carney spoke about his grandfather’s baptismal record, he became overcome with emotion as he told the crowd how there was an 'X’ in the place of his great-grandfather’s name. "In a sense, it is a mark of absence and a mark of presence. It’s a witness. It’s an affirmation," he said, pausing often to gather himself. He even apologised for his emotion. Mr Taylor-Vaisey told RTÉ News that, for the rest of the evening, many speculated about what it was about his journey that moved him so much. "There were kind of two theories.... one that his great-grandfather was illiterate and therefore could not write a name. And the other was that the great-grandfather... identity was not known," Mr Taylor-Vaisey told RTÉ News in an interview. Mark Carney will be presented with a 90-page, leather bound book packed with his family history New research by David Butler at the Irish Family History Centre, shared with RTÉ News, now sheds light on Mr Carney’s Irish ties and how three of his four grandparents trace their roots to Co Mayo and Co Cavan. "I think Prime Minister Carney's family history is very typical of a 20th century emigration experience", said Director of the Irish Family History Centre Fiona Fitzsimons, who worked with former US Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden to explore their heritage. "The great-grandparents generation are the ones who buy out their farm holding under the Land Acts purchase scheme, under the Land Commission. The grandparents' generation are the first ones who have access to education. Education gives confidence, and it opens the world up to them. It gives them the confidence to actually try new opportunities and to emigrate," she said. His paternal grandparents, Robert Carney and Nora Moran, who were from near the small village of Aughagower in Co Mayo, left for Canada in 1925 and married one year later. One hundred years later, their grandson, Mr Carney, was elected to office after a remarkable election in Canada as relations with the United States deteriorated. 1901 Census Record of Mark Carneys paternal great grandfather Patrick Carney - RTE The genealogical research tells a story spanning generations of emigration and public service. According to the centre, with help from police historian Jim Herlihy, Robert Carney served in the IRA during the War of Independence, and references from the IRA recommended him when he enlisted in An Garda Síochána in 1922. While his Irish policing career was short-lived, it continued in Canada, where he served with the Canadian Railway Police and with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Vancouver. Contemporary sketch of a 1855 dwelling house When Mr Carney visits Ireland this weekend, he will be presented with a 90-page, leather bound book packed with his family history, including more detail about his maternal grandmother’s family. "Margaret Gaffney was a coal miner's daughter. And her father was a coal miner from Cavan. His family were involved in an exploration of a coal field in the 1860s. But although that coal field didn't really take, having the skills opened up a world of opportunity to them. They were recruited into the Lanarkshire coalfields in Scotland, and then forward into coalfields in Wellington in British Columbia," said Ms Fitzsimons. "When you trace that side of the family back... the Gaffneys, and the Murrays... we actually find Ulster weavers", she said. North American origin stories often trace back to the famine, but these ties to Ireland are quite recent. No doubt it is emotional to look back on an ancestral story like this, of education and opportunity, from the perspective as a university educated, two-time central banker who then became the prime minister of his family’s adopted home. The story continues this weekend when Mr Carney is expected to travel to the homeplace of his paternal grandparents a part of a two-day visit to Ireland. He is due to attend mass in the parish church and visit the nearby cemetery, where some of his ancestors are buried. For years, Mr Carney had an Irish passport, once ranked as one of the strongest passports in the world. However, he announced his intention to renounce his Irish citizenship when he got elected as prime minister. He has said that, while many MPs have multiple citizenships, "as prime minister, I should only hold one". While he may no longer claim Irish citizenship on paper, the research shows a deep connection to Ireland, one that continues to shape his personal and professional life. The map of the parish of Aughagower that once hung in the governor of England’s central bank office is now on display in the Canadian office of the prime minister. A constant reminder of where some of his family’s journey began.